Artur Davis has pledged not to raise taxes on individuals to deal with the state’s financial crisis. Instead, he believes the state could save more than $500 million by tackling waste and fraud. In a news conference in Montgomery last month, Artur called for more prosecutions of Medicaid fraud and more auditors to collect unpaid taxes, as well as bulk purchasing of prescription medications, and a reduction of no-bid contracts and the outsourcing of government work.

Artur is correct when he says the next Governor will face a fiscal crisis. He is also correct that the people of Alabama want their elected leaders to be good financial stewards. Artur had this to say:

At a minimum they want to know we’re going to manage their dollars wisely. We ought to be transparent about taxpayer dollars. I know that is not the normal way of doing things in Montgomery.

Artur was very clear that he won’t look to raise money to deal with the state’s fiscal crisis by raising taxes on individuals. He favors reexamining the state tax code, which he says gives large tax breaks to out-of-state corporations. The total savings to the State from all of the different programs amount to well over $500 million.

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